


A Bird Told Me

by martinisandart



Category: Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries
Genre: Christmas Time, Decorating, Don’t hate me they’re cute, F/M, Softness, Tree cutting, for the groupchat, soft
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-02
Updated: 2019-12-02
Packaged: 2021-02-26 07:13:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,876
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21639394
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/martinisandart/pseuds/martinisandart
Summary: It’s December 1930. Phryne has been home for three weeks, Jane is eager to decorate for the holidays, and the Inspector is mysteriously absent. Can a birdie bring our two detectives back together for the holidays?
Relationships: Phryne Fisher & Jack Robinson, Phryne Fisher/Jack Robinson
Comments: 7
Kudos: 61





	A Bird Told Me

The sun rose slowly over the rooftops of St. Kilda, Melbourne, and it’s fingers stretched through the sky, bathing everything in a pale white light. Through drawn curtains the sun poked its head, and sparkled across plain walls, bouncing off of crystalline light fixtures, and casting rainbows across the floor. The December air stayed warm as ever, and Phryne Fisher stirred in her bed as the alarm clock that resided on her nightstand clicked to eleven o clock in the morning- not too early, and not too late. Just right.  
The Honourable Miss Fisher poked her head out from under the sheets, and rolling onto her side, stretched out first her arms, and then her legs; shaking off any last sleepiness, before reaching for her bedside to look at the clock and calendar that sat there, side by side.  
“Goodness!” She exclaimed to no one in particular,  
“How on earth is it already the fifth of December!?”  
She chuckled under her breath, and sitting up, fluffed her cap of black hair with her hands in an attempt to neaten herself before Dot predictably knocked on the door to get her ready. Of course she knew how it was December fifth! The world turned, the days ran in and out of her sight, the Gregorian calendar... existed, and the sun rose and set. Time passed just as it always had, though, around Christmas time, the time seemed to not exist.  
Perhaps it was the feelings that she associated with Christmas that left her in a haze of feeling like she needed a map, thought Phryne. As a child, Christmas had always been a sorry affair- her father drinking away his sorrows, the rent being a priority over gifts, and her mother sobbing as she presented her daughters with no more than an orange between the two of them if they were lucky. Most years there was nothing more than a crinkled paper-chain made by Janey to show that the festive season had even come and gone. It was a little strange, however, for feelings of melancholia should no longer be associated with Christmas. It wasn’t as if Phryne had no money anymore, in fact, she had more than enough to decorate her lavish residence at 221B The Esplanade, and plenty of pretty pennies left over to spend on her ragtag family and friends. She smiled to herself. She did, in fact still need to purchase Christmas presents... help Jane to decorate the house... write up a menu with Mr. B’s help for Aunt Prudence’s yearly charity dinner... 

Phryne’s train of thought was loudly interrupted with a crash, and a bang, and a very unchristian word coming from none other than Dorothy William’s mouth. Pulling on her black, silk robe, Phryne quickly patted down her hair and slipped her feet into a pair of fluffy mules, before standing and opening the door that separated the sanctity of the boudoir from the outside world. In the corridor, Dot and Jane stood facing one another, the silver coffee pot on the floor between them, and a dark stain blooming on the cream carpet. Phryne frowned, and glanced from one girl to the other as they both tried to regain some state of composure.  
“Good morning Miss Phryne...” started Jane, biting her lip and not meeting her guardian’s eye,  
“We um... had a bit of an incident with your coffee.” Dot continued, putting down the tray and pulling a napkin out of her dress pocket in a meagre attempt to blot the stain.  
“Good morning to you both!” exclaimed Phryne, taking the napkin from Dot, and shooting a stern look in Jane’s direction.  
“One would assume that Jane was running along the halls searching for decorations again, and you just happened to be in the way, Dot.”  
Jane nodded meekly.  
“Sounds about right, Miss.” agreed Dot, looking from her employer, to the stain, and back again.  
“Just leave it, Dot.” Phryne said kindly,  
“Mr. Butler will deal with it later, I can assure you. Why don’t you find me a suitable outdoors outfit for today?” Dot smiled, and retreated to Phryne’s room, and Jane stayed put.  
“I am sorry!” She started,  
“It’s just- this is my first real Christmas at home with you, and you said that we would-“  
Phryne cut her off with a smile.  
“I know what I said, you silly girl!”  
Jane grinned.  
“Go and get ready, old thing!” Said Phryne with a laugh, and a smile playing on her lips.  
“Today, we cut a Christmas tree!” 

✯

By the time that Phryne made her entrance into the kitchen, Cec and Bert had already made their way through three pots of tea, and Jane was on her third slice of toast, but still going strong. She smiled a marmalade filled smile at Phryne, and without another word, went back to her breakfast. The ever omnipresent Mr. Butler poured a cup of steaming Turkish coffee, and took it over to Phryne.  
“Good morning, Miss Fisher. Coffee?”  
Phryne took one look at the cup and almost grabbed it out of his hands, cradling the cup of liquid gold as if it were more precious than her Colombian emeralds.  
“Mr. Butler, you are a heaven send!” The man in question smiled happily, and set back about his work.  
Cec piped up, finishing his brew, and slapping Bert on the back.  
“Might I say, you look mighty nice today, Miss?” He asked, half as a joke, and half as a real question. Phryne smoothed her jacket, and smiled one of her few true smiles, reserved for the closest of family friends.  
“Why thank you Cec!”  
It was true, in fact, that Phryne looked most delightful on that cold morning of December fifth, 1930. Alongside the fact her pale blue dress and crushed velvet wrap set off her alabaster skin to perfection, the warm summer air of Australia had been doing her health wonders, her head was clear and reoccurring headache (her father), gone, and everything in her household was always in place. Even if had only been for three weeks she had been home, it felt as if she had never left. Everyone felt that way.

Phryne sank into her seat at the head of the table, and sipped delicately at her coffee, taking care not to smudge her bright red lipstick. There was, she supposed, one thing missing from her utopian return to Melbourne, and that was one very certain detective inspector. She sighed into her drink, and then pulled herself back together before Jane noticed, for Jane always seemed to notice when something was wrong- especially on the Jack Robinson front. Phryne went through her mental list again. It was likely he was simply busy with work- for even the criminals didn’t rest at Christmas; or perhaps he had never gotten the telegram that spoke of her return to the antipodes. She nodded. Yes, that would be it- the mail service had failed her, once again. It was rather strange, she supposed, for all the short telegrams he had sent (mainly Shakespeare references, she thought with a smile), had appeared perfectly fine on the other side of the ocean. She bit her lip. He never had gone after her.

“Miss Phryne? Miss Phryne?” Jane’s voice pulled her back in to the real world, and Phryne ran a hand through her already perfect hair.  
“Yes Jane?” She said with a smile, looking at her ward, who seemed to be glowing in the light of the warm winter sun.  
“Cec and Bert said they would get all the decorations out of the attic while we’re getting the tree!” She grinned, and Phryne’s brow furrowed.  
“I thought they were coming to cut the tree down!” She exclaimed, finishing her tea, and pinching her nose with her thumb and forefinger,  
“You can’t expect me to cut down a tree, surely? I can, but-”  
Jane, Cec, and Bert shared a look.  
“‘Course you won’t have to cut down the tree Miss!” Said Bert, his harsh accent a little too much for such a delicate hour of the morning. Phryne grimaced,  
“You’ll ‘ave someone to help you I’m sure!”  
Jane bit her lip, but just then, the doorbell rang.  
Mr. Butler left the room in a hurry, and cracked open the front door, letting in whomever was there without a word, and returning to the kitchen with no one in tow.  
“For you, Miss.” he said, and not a word more.  
Phryne stood up, and pulled her wrap around herself.  
“No name?” She asked, and Mr. Butler shook his head, glancing at Jane, who just sat there smiling.  
“No name at all, Miss.” he said, turning back to the coffee pot, and rather rudely cutting the conversation short. 

Walking into the hall, Phryne was ready to give some do-gooder an earful, but when her eyes met the hazel ones of the visitor, she stopped short, and was rendered speechless.

A dressed down Jack Robinson stood in her foyer, in corduroys and a beige sweater, and a bouquet of daisies in one hand. A smile played on his lips- one of the downturned smiles that very rarely made an appearance. Phryne fought not to throw herself at him, rather, opting for the more subtle approach. After all. If he hadn’t taken the time out of three weeks to see her- why was he here now? Did he even remember their kiss at the airfield- the kiss that she replayed in her mind almost daily- or was it just a moment in passing that one year, and three months later.

“Jack!” Her smile could be heard in each syllable that she spoke.  
“What are you doing here?!” 

His smile mirrored her own.  
“Well, I heard from a little bird that you were back in Melbourne, Miss Fisher- and well- I could never pass up that, could I?”  
Phryne turned just in time to see Jane dart back into the kitchen.  
“I don’t suppose Jane was that little bird. Was she?” Phryne asked with a laugh, stepping closer and allowing herself to smooth Jack’s lapels.  
“Now, now, Miss Fisher.” Jack’s voice honey-ed every single syllable in her name, and he stared down into her blue-grey eyes.  
“You know full well that I don’t disclose my secrets.”  
Phryne smiled fully at that, and ever so slowly, wrapped her arms around the man that had appeared in her hallway.  
“Oh, Jack.” She said, her face hidden by his overcoat,  
“How I missed you.”  
Jack pressed the bunch of daisies into Phryne’s hand, and warily kissed her forehead, ever the gentleman.  
“And I, you.” 

Glancing at the flowers with a smile, Phryne grabbed Jack’s hand, and pulled him into the kitchen.  
“Mr. B!” She exclaimed,  
“Another coffee please! And a vase for these daisies!”  
Jack stood in the doorway as Phryne bustled around in the kitchen, simply bathing in the light that she emitted, and when she caught his eye after placing the flowers in the centre of the polished wood table.  
“Thank you, Jack.” her voice clipped the ‘k’ at the end of his name, and he couldn’t help but grin.  
Mr. Butler took that moment, as the two detectives stared in one another’s eyes, to attempt to present Jack with his coffee. The moment was lost.  
“No thank you, Mr. B!” He said,  
“If Miss Jane is to ever get her tree, we had best be leaving soon- even with Miss Fisher’s driving skills, we will want to be ahead of the afternoon rush for trees!” 

Jane stood, and grabbed her coat and boots from the pantry, pulling them on and smoothing her braids.  
“I’m ready if you are, Miss Phryne!” she said with a smile, and Jack grabbed the velvet wrap from where Phryne had thrown it on the floor when she had wrapped him in a hug. He held it out, and turning her back to him, she slipped into it, before pulling herself back into his arms, and leaning against his chest for the slightest second.  
“Phryne....”  
She stood up, and smiled at him, before noticing the look Jane was giving them.  
“Well, shall we go then?” She asked, looping her arm in Jack’s, and almost waltzing out the front door, Mr. Butler calling after them with Jane and a thermos of coffee. 

✯

The drive to Villanueva’s Tree Farm was a short one, made even shorter by the sheer power that Phryne’s Hispano Suiza held under its hood. For the entirety of the drive, Jack couldn’t keep his eyes off of Phryne, simply out of disbelief that she was finally home. Home, of course, perhaps wasn’t Melbourne, nor was it Melbourne. He knew, deep down, that to her, home was wherever her mismatched family was, and as low as he tried to keep his hopes, perhaps he would one day be considered part of her family. Every so often, she would glance over at him, a smile on her red lips. Jane sat alone in the back, and watched their interactions with a smile. She had thought, originally, that Miss Phryne would perhaps be mad that she had called the station for a non emergency, but heavens! She was sick of her guardian moping around the house, and not even dropping by the station! A little help was what they needed, and Jane was more than happy to give them that! Jane pulled her copy of Wind in the Willows out from behind the seat where she had stashed it, and as they pulled up to the parking for cutting the fit trees, watched with a smile as the Inspector got out of the car, opened Miss Phryne’s door, and offered her his arm. Jane smiled. She knew full well that this was just part of their dance, and more of a joke than something that was done for propriety’s sake. Miss Fisher had no desire to succumb to society’s idea of gender roles, and Jane knew that. Jack knew that too, and smiled back at Jane, before letting Phryne climb out of the car, and wrap her hand around his bicep, smiling like, Jane thought to herself, an absolute fool.  
They were so in love, she thought to herself- though, Miss Phryne had just taken an awful long time to notice it. Standing in the summer sun, the air thick with the scent of Christmas and full of laughter, in Jane’s eyes, her Miss and the Inspector were the epitome of a perfect couple- they certainly looked it! 

Jane tucked her legs up under herself, and put her nose back in her book as Miss Fisher and the Inspector wandered off. There was no need for her to go with them, she knew that. She was simply a catalyst, in a reaction suggested by none other than Mr. Butler. She chuckled to herself as she read of Toad and Ratty’s adventures. That mad really was a hopeless romantic under his buttoned up butler’s uniform. 

✯

A little while later, Phryne was still clinging onto Jack’s arm as they wandered through the pine grove, neither of them truly looking for a tree at all. They had spent the last fifteen minutes talking quietly to one another, Phryne in a haze of happiness, and Jack simply watching Phryne as if she was the most beautiful being on the planet. Every time she spoke of her adventures in England, her eyes lit up- especially when she spoke of flying her plane, and of all the interesting people who she had met- Shakespeare scholars, dancers, sculptors... though, Jack didn’t feel jealous. She spoke not of any lovers, or men who had piqued her interest, but of how much her father had annoyed her, or how her cousins simply got on her last nerve with every single thing they did. She spoke on, and on, and on, and Jack basked in the light she emitted. At one point, she laughed so hard at some silly joke that he made that she had to cling onto his arm to stay standing, and Jack had brushed her cheek with the back of his hand, a look of tender love in his eyes. 

Green trees towered above Phryne, and eventually, after looking around with a smidgen of concern on her features, she locked eyes with Jack.  
“Where’s Jane?”  
He laughed, and Phryne couldn’t help but smile, even when worried about her ward.  
“She’s with the tree, at the car.”  
Her face was utterly puzzled.  
“She asked for me to spend the day with you, Phryne.” Her Christian name slipped out, and she looked up at him with soft eyes.  
“She..?”  
“Wanted you to see me- before Christmas, and as often as possible for... well- preferably the foreseeable future. She knew you were too stubborn to come and see me by yourself.”  
Phryne clasped a hand over her mouth, and Jack reached out to hold it gently with his own.  
“If you’ll have me, that is?”  
Phryne stood on her tiptoes, and pressed a gentle kiss to Jack’s lips.  
“Of course I will, Inspector.” She blushed and pulled away, settling for leaning against him instead.  
“I always will.”  
With that, the two strode back towards the Hispano, towards Jane and the tree, and towards a hopeful future.

**Author's Note:**

> SOFT CHRISTMAS FLUFF. MWAH x


End file.
